Beginnings and Endings
by ClarityInObscurity
Summary: Some beginnings cannot happen without an ending. Implied canon pairings. Character death. Based on true event.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of FFVII or make profit from this story.

I'm sorry for such a downer story, but tragedy, much like this one, struck me on News Years Day. I've been out of sorts since then, unable to try to attempt anything humorous. So, please bear with me. This will help me out a bit. Thank you.

* * *

Everything was not going according to plan. There should be celebration and music and dancing. The room should be decorated with streamers and other sparkly party favors.

Instead, the room they were confined to was a stark white. The kind that no one wanted to be in. The kind that were in hospitals. The kind that signified death.

Tifa held Marlene, curled up in her lap, sleeping. Her left hand was being held tightly by Cloud as he sat in the chair left of her. His eyes were down on the floor and he hardly blinked. Denzel was on her other side, his hand clasped with Marlene's, watching her as she slept. Cid and Shera were on the other side of the small room, Cid holding onto a sleeping Sheldon. Shera's eyes were red around the rims, but she was no longer crying. Yuffie was standing with Vincent, tucked into his side, her face hidden by his shoulder. He had draped his cloak around her to keep her warm and ran his free hand up and down her back. His eyes were closed. Nanaki, being covered in fur, was not allowed into the hospital. Cait Sith was outside waiting with him to keep him company until they could receive more news.

Wanting to shift her legs, but unable to, Tifa leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling. She couldn't believe the unpredictability of life. Barret had survived so much only to be taken out by a disease? It seemed ludicrous to her. She felt Cloud squeeze her hand and she squeezed back. There was no room for words in the small room. What would they say to each other anyways?

The evening had started off well. Everyone was there; even Reeve sent his mechanical cat by to send his greetings. There was laughter from the adults, a hand not far from a beverage containing alcohol. Denzel and Marlene were given sparkling juice instead. Several tables had been pushed together and draped with a long white tablecloth. Messy plates adorned the table from a well-made meal.

From at one end of the table, a fork was clinking against a glass. The room fell silent when the glass shattered. Barret grimaced sheepishly as he put the fork down next to his finished plate. "Whoops, sorry, Teef," he said. "Don't know my own strength sometimes."

From down at the other end of the table, Tifa hid her smile. Her left hand was tucked into Cloud's right as he sat at the end chair. She shook her head knowingly and said, "It's all right, Barret. There are plenty more where that came from."

Barret nodded his head at the forgiveness he was given. He stood up, clearing his throat. "Now, we all know why we're here today—"

"No we don't!" Cid cried out laughing.

Barret glared at Cid for his interruption. He went back to looking genial as he addressed the table again. "For all it's worth, Cloud _finally_ asked Tifa to marry him. I don't even want to think about how long that took. I swear boy, I was gonna make you ask her by gunpoint one of these days. For being as brave as you are, you sure do lack courage when it comes to women." There was a spattering of laughter. "It's official now and I wish them the best of luck in the coming years." Barret grabbed a back up glass off the table and raised it in the air. "Here's to Cloud and Tifa!" There were cheers all around before a short silence as everyone took a drink.

"Hah!" went out a cry from Yuffie as her glass touched the table before Vincent's did. The normally stoic man gave her a smile as he refilled the glasses. She may be a fast drinker, but he would be the one to outlast her.

Shera and Tifa began removing plates from the table and transporting them to the kitchen. Dessert would be served when the dishes were done. Knowing this, Marlene and Denzel also helped the clear the table. Grabbing Barret's plate, Tifa noticed the slightly pained look on his face. She bent over so only she could hear his voice. "Are you doing okay, Barret? Not getting all teary on me, are you?"

"Nah, Teef. I would never do something so womanly," he said gruffly. "I'll leave that to Cid and his tea. I jus' gotta headache."

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know."

"All righ'. Thanks."

Tifa moved away from Barret and began to help Shera with the washing. There was general conversation from the dining area as the time passed. The children nearly flew to their seats when they saw dessert being served. Cheesecake with blackberries. A Shera specialty. The woman was a phenomenal baker and had opened her own shop once Sheldon was old enough to not need constant supervision and Cid could take him onto the airship with him.

As everyone mowed down, Tifa kept an eye on Barret. His brows kept furrowing even deeper. A couple times he put a hand to his head. The last straw was when he didn't even finish his cheesecake. He loved cheesecake, especially if Shera made it. After the table had been cleared for the final time and the tables moved to the sides of the room, Tifa approached Barett again. "Hey," she said. "You didn't finish your cheesecake."

He looked up from a chair he was sitting in. "I was pretty full from dinner. You make a mean meal, Teef." He tried to smile at her, but it wasn't his usual one.

"Is the headache getting worse? I can get you something—"

"No, no. I can handle a little headache. It's no big."

Tifa frowned a bit. "If you say so." She wandered away from Barret and shot a glance back at him. Soon, however, she was caught up in an embrace by Yuffie and dragged off to pick out some music to listen to. The little, now drunken, ninja was ready to get "jiggy with it".

As the night went on, Tifa kept an eye on Barret. He seemed to be getting worse. Her concern rose when he mentioned he was going to go upstairs to get away from the noise for a bit. She tried to get away from the rest of her friends so she wouldn't rouse suspicion, but it was proving rather difficult. When she finally was able to sneak off, Tifa was almost unable to comprehend what she found.

Barret was sprawled facedown on the floor. She rushed over to him to see if he had been hit or shot, but there was no blood. She checked his pulse and it was barely there. Whatever it was that was affecting him, it was well beyond Tifa's expertise. She ran to the door and shouted down, "Someone call an ambulance!"

And then everything went downhill.

There was a knock at the door and the doctor walked solemnly into the room they were all confined in. The look on his face was not one baring good news. "Ms. Lockheart, Mr. Strife, could I speak to you privately?" Both of them nodded. Cloud stood up first and helped Tifa pass off Marlene to Denzel, who cradled her in his arms. Then Cloud held out his hand for Tifa and assisted her in standing. They followed the doctor out into the hallway. They walked in silence until they reached the room that Barret was being held in. Tifa almost cried out when she saw the state he was in.

There were tubes everywhere, pumping blood, pumping clear. A heart monitor showed a slow, but faint heartbeat. An oxygen tube was shoved down his throat to help him to breath. His dark complexion seemed paler than was right. He wasn't moving at all. Tifa felt a few tears slide down her face and she wiped them away quickly. Barret would want none of that "womanly stuff".

A throat cleared a Tifa looked up at the doctor. "Mr. Wallace had a massive brain aneurysm. The blood clot was the cause of the headache earlier this evening. As of now, he shows no sign of brain activity. I'm sorry to say that he will not recover."

Tifa tried to speak, but her voice wouldn't come. Instead, Cloud took over for her. "What are our choices?"

"He could remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life or you can let him go back to the lifestream."

Cloud nodded, appreciating the forwardness of the doctor. He wrapped his arms around Tifa as she stared at Barret. He should be yelling at them about being fools and not to worry about him. He should be loud, boisterous, teddy bear Barret. But instead he was silent, confined to a bed which he would never leave.

Gently breaking out of Cloud's embrace, Tifa slowly approached Barret's side. She ran a hand along his forehead before grabbing his cold hand. "I'm sorry, Barret. You should have had a better death, a warrior's death. I know you wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. I guess fate didn't agree." She choked back a sob. "You were a wonderful father, brother, and friend to us all. You kept us going even when we felt like everything was hopeless, even me. Thank you, for everything." She leaned above him and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you. We all do."

Tifa stood back up. She watched Barret for a few moments longer. Only when she couldn't take the sound of the false breathing any longer did she look at the plug that kept him "alive". She swallowed hard and bent down to the outlet. Her hand grasped the plug firmly. However, she could not find the strength to pull it. She was about to let go when she felt a familiar warmth behind her. Another hand fell over hers. There was a pause before both hands tightened and pulled. In one fell swoop, everything went silent.

They stayed like that for what seemed an eternity, their hands gripping the plug. It wasn't until the doctor called the time of death did they drop it. Tifa felt hands under her arms as Cloud lifted her to an upright position. He turned her until she was facing his chest and he pulled her close. She stood in his embrace, arms at her side. It wasn't until he pulled away from her did she react. Her arms shot around his neck and held on tight. Her body shook as she sobbed hard into his chest.

_He was gone. Barret was gone. This wasn't right!_

Cloud made small hushing sounds as she cried. He smoothed her hair gently and rocked them side-to-side. He kissed her forehead and told her that everything would be right again. It was many minutes until she calmed down, but she still held on and Cloud allowed her to. When her sobs turned into soft hiccups, she heard Cloud say, "We need to tell the others."

Tifa sniffed and let go of Cloud. She wiped her eyes the best she could. She looked around for the doctor, but he must have left to give them some privacy. She took some deep breaths and then looked up at Cloud. His face was sad, but he managed to give her a small smile of assurance. She wiped her eyes one more time before she said, "Okay. I'm ready."

In reality, she knew she would never be ready to tell her other loved ones that one of them had died. But she knew she had to. It would start the healing process. Marlene would be hit the worse, her second father being ripped from her. Tifa and Cloud would take her in and raise her as Barret would have wanted. They would honor his memory in any way they could.

True, the day was supposed to be a happy one, but sometimes one journey cannot begin without an ending.


End file.
